The revelation that Gilmore Girls would be returning with new episodes for Netflix nearly ten years after the series finale put the internet into a tailspin. Since the news was released at the beginning of the year, spoilers have been heavily guarded and the cast has spoken infrequently. Consider Brenda Maben one of the unsung heroes of the oft-praised beloved show. The wardrobe designer has been on board with the Amy Sherman Palladino created hit from the beginning–outfitting a 31-year old Lorelai Gilmore in flashy tees and low rise jeans, Rory Gilmore in studious private school uniforms and matriarch Emily Gilmore in expensive yet understated St. John Knits. Below, Maben discusses the intricacies of character development and how it relates to fashion, the shocking revelation of Emily Gilmore in jeans and why Kirk has always been a standout.
Harper's Bazaar: How do you think the clothes helped to tell the story on Gilmore Girls overall?
Brenda Maben: I just think that it is totally relatable. There are times in the "un-reality" world in television and film where it's hard to relate to some characters because you know that you could never afford what they're wearing or it just seems so out of your range. But I think part of the charm of Gilmore Girls that made people relate to it was you could see yourself in that outfit. You know people in the Midwest and in China, anywhere in the world, could actually see themselves having access to the clothing that the girls wore.
HB: How did that translate into the new episodes?
BM: I tried keeping what I had with the girls going but also tried to push the envelope a little bit. All the people that watched it in the beginning are now 10 years older—including me—and it was about still making it relatable to those same fans, because now they are watching it with their daughters that they didn't have before. I don't want to say it's everyday wear, but it's something that is so classic in its look that I feel like everyone can relate to it. They think, 'I would love to have that where did she buy it from?'.
HB: How much overall direction did Amy Sherman Palladino provide as far as the clothing choices throughout all seasons?
BM: A lot, the first time she definitely had a lot of input because the characters were still growing and being formed. She didn't want to up-play Rory's clothes because she was trying to tell the story of a young girl really loving books, reading, writing and getting her education and the clothes were not important. Then as Rory started changing, her clothing started changing too. She started growing from the first season to the fourth season—she went from being in high school in Chilton to actually going to college and by then a lot of her other ideas were formed. Then boys came into the picture—part of the attraction of Jess was he always had a book in his back pocket but he was kind of bad boy at the same time. So as she became interested in the opposite sex with Dean and Jess, she changed up a little bit. There was also the influence of a grandparent because at one point she was living with her grandmother and her grandfather in the pool house and getting more involved with the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). When she was with them she was a little more closed off with her clothing and with the boys she was a little more open in her clothing choices, as far as a button being un-buttoned, a lower neckline but not too low, shorter shirts—just regular college cuteness.
HB: Was it just good timing that you were available for A Year in the Life?
BM: Oh I would have just done it no matter what, there was no luck in that. I was doing it, there was no saying no! Amy [Sherman Palladino] gave me a long enough warning, she said 'be back in the United States by this time,' but she didn't say why. So when I found out why I was like, wow okay!
HB: To get more specific, how did you approach Lorelai's character? How were you telling her story through wardrobe?
BM: [In the reboot], she's doing well in the end and broadening her clothing choices. I feel like she has a little more money now and so she can spend a little more because the inn is doing well. At the point where we left her in the story, the inn was about to do well but she was still building and now she has it built and I feel like the place is doing really well and I hope I showed that a little bit in the choices she made when she went to the store to buy the clothes. Because I see them as characters and I assume these characters go shopping for themselves even though I kind of help a long the way.
HB: In the first seven seasons Lorelai dressed younger than her calendar age, what was the thinking behind that?
BM: Yes, because she had Rory when she was 16 so basically there is still 16 years difference in their age but she needed to look a little younger. It was the fact that Lorelai was a young mother and raising herself at the same time as she was raising Rory. When I was that age there was really more of a distance between myself and my eldest daughter but I still had a lot of fun in me and I think Lorelai had a lot of fun in her and still does, only she's a lot more sophisticated now.
HB: In the earlier episodes she dressed flashier than Rory where with most mothers and daughters it would be the opposite. How did you approach that?
BM: Right, but you've got to remember that Rory is a bookworm. She's a writer, she loves reading books and it's her passion—that's the only thing she really cared about. As long as she had clothes on she was good, because it was all about her passion, reading and being in Chilton and doing well in school. Luckily, she had a uniform so she didn't have to make fashion choices. And usually what happens when you have a uniform on is you have a tendency to go a little overboard with your regular dress because of the fact that you have a uniform on all the time. It was nice to show that she wasn't too much interested in that, she was just interested in study—which I think was a good example for a lot of girls at the time.
HB: Was the Chilton uniform based on anything specific?
BM: No, I went to a private school and I had to wear a uniform too, and my daughter did too. But for my daughter it was all about the shoes because it was her self expression because at her school they had to wear a uniform but they could wear any kind of shoe they wanted.
HB: You spoke about how you approached Lorelai for the reboot, how did you approach Rory for A Year in the Life?
BM: She's older too and she's had a job, she's gone to college. The natural progression from that is she went to Europe, she went shopping, she hangs out in New York, she is a little more sophisticated. I still wanted to keep that sort of, I want to say sweetness, but she never had a hard edge, more grown up, more business-like so to speak. That's what happens when you grow up, you still have the jeans, the t-shirt, the tennis shoes, for when you're just hanging out, but then when you go out you dress up a little bit.
HB: Were the actors involved in the clothing choices?
BM: Oh yeah there were always discussions because they are the ones who are forming the characters. The writing of the characters, giving their input into who this character is—they have to feel comfortable in what they are wearing in order to relay how this character is feeling and how they would be saying the words.
HB: Where did you source most of the pieces?
BM: Everywhere—we shot in Los Angeles—so it was Melrose Place, Robertson Boulevard, thrift stores down in San Diego, it was everywhere. I tried to stay out of the triangle, you know Barneys, Neiman's, Saks. I shopped at a lot of small boutiques because I was looking for that one-of-a-kind piece that didn't have too much trend factor to it, but was right for the character.
HB: Are there looks that really stand out to you over the course the show?
BM: Well I can tell you one of the looks was on Emily Gilmore. I have to talk about that, that was fun, Emily Gilmore in jeans—that was great—and a t-shirt. That was something we had never seen before so that was quite fun for me.
HB: Generally, how would you put into words Emily's style through the course of the show?
BM: From the beginning she was just old money, St. John Knit, she was mainly in that brand and that served her very well and that was continued and it started evolving and I can't tell you too much more. People freaked out and I freaked out too!
HB: What do you think that really buttoned up style, old money said about her as a character?
BM: It really summed her up. It was all about how she looked from the outside and she had a certain image to relay to the world because of her status in society and I truly think that look served her very well. But now her husband is gone and she has done some mourning and as a lot of people do, men and women, they start to find themselves after their spouse has gone. In order to move on you have to look inside yourself and make decisions and quite possibly make some changes and continue on without the person you are terribly in love with. And it could be going back to something you had earlier in your life before you had your spouse that maybe you might have wanted to do but you didn't do because of having children and living that particular life. I think that Emily in the t-shirt is having some of those thoughts.
HB: Overall, which character did you have the most fun dressing?
BM: I, of course, loved dressing Lorelai, Rory and Paris. I had a great time dressing all of them. I loved dressing Kirk, I know it doesn't make any sense, he's just such a fun character because he is never the same. He changes from episode to episode and you never know what he's going to do and that makes it fun. And of course the boys, they were a real pleasure, all of the boys—Dean, Jess, Logan, Luke. Every day you get to come to work and be with people who you truly admire and love and have spent 7 years with, so it was just a pleasure.
HB: Are there any pieces from the original episodes that you wish you still had?
BM: Yes! I wish I had the original pink coat that Lorelai wore. What happens when you finish a show is it all goes into stock and so it all went into stock at Warner Brothers. So we put in a big effort to find those pieces to no avail. There were pieces that we were able to find that were archived, but there were also pieces that sort of got lost with time because who knew we were coming back?
Kerry Pieri is Harper's Bazaar's Digital Fashion/Features Director. Kerry oversees the fashion vertical for BAZAAR.com, including launching digital covers, styling celebrity features, and managing recurring features including Brand Watch and My Life in Three Looks. In addition, Kerry edits the “best of” each season, from shoes to bags, denim and coats, and is consistently looking for shifts in the fashion realm to lend a voice. Kerry formerly served as the Editorial Director of StyleCaster.com and as a producer at Full Frontal Fashion. She lives in New York with her husband Steve, and baby girl Lila Sky.
